The New Peter Pan Story: Arrival in Neverland
by ACE-shellshocked
Summary: I think we've all heard this one before: some sort of offspring of Wendy's gets whisked away to Neverland where they have adventures and fun with that flying, red-headed hero we all know and love. But this story has characters that don't always have happy endings, this story doesn't have love because it's expected to, this story doesn't limit itself the ides that came before it.
1. What's that light?

Peter Pan OC: Beginning Story **Chapter 1** POV 3rd Person

_Okay, for those who read this story when it originally came out, you will notice that the name of one of our characters has changed. I didn't like the old one, so I changed it._

_Now, on to the story!_

…

It was very late. Past the time that anyone should be awake. There was supposed to be a gibbous moon out that night, but the cloud coverage made it impossible for any light to make it down to street level.

All the lights in the houses were out, all the people had gone to bed, except for the rare few that pushed themselves to stay awake, whether it was because of stress, or studying for that college exam the next day, or they just couldn't sleep. No one could say for certain.

Of course, in one house, an old red brick house, there was one such person who still hadn't yet gone to sleep. Her light was out, she lay on her bed with her eyes closed, but anyone could tell she wasn't sleeping. A peculiar thing about her, though, was that she wasn't even in her pajamas, nor was she under the bedcovers.

At least, that's what one boy thought as he peered in through her window.

"These people keep getting weirder." He whispered to a little glowing ball of light that hovered next to his ear.

Suddenly, the girl sat up in bed and looked around as if she'd heard something. This caused him to jump aside and fly behind the wall of the window. The ball of light followed close behind, but it wasn't quick enough because the girl caught sight of the light just as it flew around the corner.

The girl hopped up and sped towards the window. The panes were already open so she leaned out as far as she could and tried to peer around the corner. The darkness was so thick she could barely tell where the corner was.

Meanwhile, above the window, the boy held the struggling ball of light trapped in his hands, trying to keep any light from escaping, and to muffle the chorus of bells it was emitting.

The girl stood there for a long moment, and the glowing orb was getting harder and harder to control, until finally she shrugged her shoulders and went back inside.

He let out a sigh of relief and opened his hands, the orb flew out of his hand and into his face flitting about and letting out angry sounding bell sounds.

"Shh SHH! Alright Tink, calm down, I had to keep you quiet so we wouldn't get discovered!" the boy whispered.

The ball chimed sternly in response.

"Alright, don't get your panties in a bunch. C'mon, let's go see Jane." He said and they flew around to the back of the house.

In the meantime, when the girl had left the window she bent down to look at the digital clock that sat on her bedside table.

"1:43," she murmured, "Guess now's as good as any." She walked over to where a large purple duffle bag had been laying. It was almost impossible to see anything in the darkness, but the girl knew the room so well that the only problem she had with the duffle was finding the strap used to carry it.

Eventually, though she found it. She threw the strap over her shoulder and crossed the floor to the window. Hauling herself up onto the ledge, she threw one last glance back into the darkened bedroom. When she didn't see anything worth remembering (not that she'd wanted to remember this place, anyway), she let out a sigh and crawled out the window.

On the rooftop a light breeze blew in the girl's face, on it was the scent of the city; fast food, gasoline, and way too much cologne. She breathed it in and walked a couple steps forward before she heard a sound.

It wasn't a very loud sound; it was almost as soft as the wind, itself. In fact, the girl would have thought she'd imagined it if it hadn't continued.

It sounded like bells; beautiful, soft bells. They faded in and out of her ears, but every time she heard them, it sounded like a faraway choir of angels. She had to figure out where it was coming from.

It was difficult for her to locate the source of the beautiful noise, for it kept fading in and out, but eventually she realized that it was coming from the back of the house. She crept over to the edge of the roof, and peered down. She couldn't see anything except for a dull light coming out of an open window low to the ground.

What was strange about this light was that it wasn't dull enough to be the light of some floor lamp, and it moved around a lot like a "Flashlight!" She whispered, "Someone must be robbing the house!"

Completely forgetting about the beautiful bells, the girl threw herself over the ledge and started to climb down the gutter to the window.


	2. Let's go to Neverland

Peter Pan OC: Beginning Story **Chapter 2** POV 3rd Person

After the boy had flown over to the back of the house, he was surprised to find that Jane's window was closed.

"That's funny," he murmured to himself, "every time I've been here, her window's been open."

The orb chimed something, and the boy nodded, "That's true, maybe she's not feelin' well." The ball chimed a bit more and started floating off toward the sky, but the boy quickly caught it. "Oooh no, we're not flyin' back to Neverland just yet. If Jane's sick, then she could definitely do with a visit from a friend."

The ball clanged and tried to fly away again but he held it fast. "Gosh, Tink, why're you always so sensitive? We're just visiting a friend, nothin' more 'n that. Now go pick the lock."

The orb chimed nothing as it flew over to the lock on the window. With a soft click, the latch sprang open, and the pane swung outward; almost smacking the boy in the face.

He flew out of the way; the windowpane missed him by a few inches, and flew inside. The ball followed close behind.

When they were both safely inside he looked around the room. It was almost impossible to make out anything in the darkness.

"Hey, Tink, how about a little more light!" he whispered.

The orb rang and flew around the room, its light increasing. From its light, he could see that nothing in the room had been touched for some time. There was a fine layer of dust on everything. There was no sign of life anywhere.

"What happened here?" the boy murmured to himself, he was about to step forward when something big and heavy hit him from behind.

Lights exploded from behind his eyelids. Somewhere, bells chimed loudly and a girl was shouting at it to "Get away from me!" He wanted to see what was going on, but the throbbing in his head wasn't going to let him get up and go anywhere soon.

Eventually, the throb dimmed to a dull thud, and the lights behind his eyes faded enough for him to focus. He looked up to see a girl huddled on the bed swatting at the bright ball of light which was flitting around her.

He shook his head to clear what was left of the fog in his brain, jumped up, and flew to the bed. The girl looked up when he floated above her, and was about to let out a gasp when he put his hand over her mouth.

He grabbed the struggling orb and whispered loudly, "Would you two calm dowm?"

The ball let out a muffled ringing sound and struggled in his closed palm.

"So _that's_ where the bells were coming from!" The girl said as she tore his hand away from her mouth.

"Would you be quiet?" he whispered feverishly, "I don't want to wake anyone up!"

"Don't worry about it, these walls are pretty soundproof." She said absentmindedly as she reached for the hand that was clutching the ringing, glowing ball.

He held it away from her, "You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, trust me. I made a lot of noise when I was swatting at that thing, so either these walls are soundproof or everyone in my family are really heavy sleepers."

In trying to keep the girl away from his hand, the boy floated upwards towards the ceiling. She watched him as he made his ascent with her head cocked.

"How're you doing that?"

"What, this?" he said as he drifted lazily around the room rubbing the back of his head, "It's nothin', what'd you hit me with?"

The girl hopped off the bed and walked around under him trying to find a way to explain it. "Eh heh, a lamp. Sorry, I thought you were a burglar.

"Me, a burglar? Don't kid yourself, I'm not thief!" He thought for a moment, "Actually, I take that back."

The girl continued to look up at him as he glided around the floated down so he could see her face to face, or rather silhouette to silhouette.

"Go ahead, look for yourself," he said matter-of-factly, "I'm tellin' ya, there's no trick."

The orb let out a large chime and struggled in his hand. "Oh, shut up." He snapped.

"Why don't you let it out?" the girl asked as she ran her hand under and over the air around him looking for strings or rope or some other type of cord.

"'Cause I'm afraid she might attack you again."

"Is she dangerous?" the girl said taking a step back.

"What? No! Tink wouldn't do anything to kill ya…on accident, but she can bite." He gave her a reassuring grin.

No sooner had he said that when there was a loud ring, a loud "Ouch!," his hand opened, and the orb shot out of it.

"I see what'cha mean." She laughed as the ball flew at the boy's face and let out a series of angry bells.

The girl looked closer at the orb and saw that it wasn't a glowing ball of light, but rather a small person with glowing, iridescent wings.

She was very pretty. She was thin with pale skin and very blonde hair that was tied up in a bun with green ribbon. She wore nothing but a small light green dress that looked as if it were made out of leaves and frayed out at the bottom, and light green shoes with little white bulbs attached to the toes.

"Sh-she's a fairy." The girl said not taking her eyes off of her.

"A pixie, actually." He gave a proud smirk.

"She's beautiful!" she breathed, "And her name's Tink?"

"Tinkerbell."

The girl's eyes widened as she looked from the boy to Tinkerbell and back. "Wait, so if she's Tinkerbell, then you must be-"

"Peter Pan, at your service," He said as he took off his hat, gave a grin and a lavish bow, "and what might your name be?"

She said nothing and shook her head. "Oh my God, I'm dreaming. This is _not_ happening!" She pinched herself, and when she winced in pain she shook her head and tried again.

Peter cocked his head and flew towards the girl, he paused over her and watched as she continued to pinch herself, "What're ya doin'?" he asked incredulously.

The girl jumped and looked up at him, "I'm checking to see if I'm dreaming." She said.

"By pinching yourself?"

"You can't feel pain in a dream, so if I feel pain, then that obviously means I'm not dreaming." She said and pinched herself again.

She winced in pain and was about to try again out of desperation to prove to herself that she wasn't meeting Peter Pan and that she was dreaming, when Peter grabbed her hand to prevent her from trying again. They looked into each other's faces, which were more like shadows; the girl looked down and wrenched her hand out of Peter's.

"Uh, I guess maybe I'm not dreaming," she gave a weak chuckle.

"Uh, yeah." Peter said as he eyed her duffle bag which sat under the window sill. "What's this thing?" he gave the sack a small kick.

"Careful with that!" the girl snapped, "that has all my stuff in it!"

"Do you always carry all your stuff around?"

"No," she said defensively, "I was just leaving when I saw Tinkerbell flying around in this room and I thought I'd investigate." She picked up the bag and tossed it over her shoulder.

"Why're ya leavin'?"

"'Cause I hate it here."

"Where're ya goin'?"

"Dunno yet." The girl crossed the room to the window.

"You mean you don't have a place to go?" Peter flew in front of her.

"I'm going as far as Liverpool, but other than that, I don't really know where I'm going." She pushed past him and looked out the window.

Peter stared at her for a long moment, lost in thought. Then, all of a sudden, he snapped his fingers and flew at her. "I've got it!" he exclaimed.

The girl was so surprised by the sudden outburst that she nearly fell out the window, but Peter grabbed her at the last second and pulled her back inside.

"Why don't you come with me back to Neverland!"

Tinkerbell, who had been sitting on the bedside table this whole time, perked up when she heard Peter invite the strange girl to Neverland.

"You mean that place exists too?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah! It-" Peter never got to finish that sentence as Tinkerbell flew in between him and the girl and rang out a chorus of angry bells at him.

"Uh, I don't think she wants me to go."

"Ah, it's nothin'. She just thought we were comin' here to visit a friend, not pick up a girl." He said in-between chimes.

"What friend were you comin' to see?"

"Her name's Jane. Do you know where she went?" Peter gestured around the room, "She doesn't seem to be here."

As soon as Peter said he was looking for Jane, the girl's face dropped into a frown and she seemed to shrink a little.

"What's wrong?" He pushed Tinkerbell out of his face.

She stayed silent for a moment looking down at the floor. Finally she sighed and said, "Peter, I don't know how to tell you this without easing the blow, but, uh…"

"What is it?"

"Jane is…dead."It was almost impossible to hear over Tink's angry trills; she said it so quietly, but Peter heard it all the same.

Tinkerbell stopped chiming and looked at the girl surprised. Peter's arms dropped to his sides, his shoulder's drooped and he dropped down to the floor.

"I think it's my turn to say I must be dreaming." He murmured

They all stayed silent a moment until Peter finally asked, "How'd it happen?"

"She died quietly in her sleep."

Peter turned away from her, and Tinkerbell gave her a stare as if to say "This is all your fault."

She disregarded Tinkerbell, took a step closer to him and said, "Peter, I know what you must be feeling. She was my friend, too."

"Yeah." He said as he looked out the window to the cloudy sky.

"She talked about you all the time, you know." She said, "She told great stories about your adventures."

He gave a small smile and said, "Yeah, I bet she did." He continued to look at the sky. The girl warily walked up and put a hand on his shoulder.

He just shrugged it off, "So, shall we go to Neverland?" he didn't look at her.

She gave a wary smile, "Sure, but how do we get there?"

"By flying, of course." Peter looked around for Tinkerbell, "To do that, we need pixie-dust. Now, where did-" then he looked out the window again and saw a little golden light disappear into the clouds.

Peter did a face-palm. "Why that little-" the next few words were too low to understand. "Well, whether she likes it or not, I'm taking you to Neverland."

"How?"

"I guess I'll have to carry you." He said.

"Wh-whoa, wait what?" she said as Peter started floating up in the air, "Wait, I'm not agreeing to _that_. Wait!" Too late, peter dove at her, and faster than she could think she was hanging onto Peter shoulders for dear life as they flew higher and higher into the sky.

"Why are we going up?" She shouted over the wind.

"'Cause I need to find Neverland!" Peter shouted back.

"Oh yeah!" she said, suddenly remembering what Miss Jane had said about how to get to Neverland.

The shot through the clouds and Peter soared around a bit, looking at the sky. Meanwhile, the girl was looking at the scenery. It was probably the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. The clouds towered over them like large black cotton balls. The moon shined on them and cast beautiful shadows on everything. Then the sky looked as if someone had covered the world with black velvet and sprinkled it with the most beautiful diamonds anyone had ever seen.

"There it is!" Peter pointed.

"Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning." They said together.

They started flying in that direction. "By the way," Peter said, "I never caught your name."

"Raine," she said, never taking her eyes of the stars, "My name's Raine."

"That's a weird name."

"Gee, thanks, next time I want you opinion on people's name's I'll ask you." Raine said sarcastically.

Peter just laughed. They talked all the way to Neverland. Peter asked what year it was ("2010"), and how old she was, ("15") and what her life was like (no answer).

Raine asked how old he was (he forgot, she thought he was about 14 or 15), how many adventures he'd gone on ("a lot"), and what his life was like ("you'll have to wait and see").

They continued on that way until morning when Raine got her first glimpse of Neverland.


	3. Meet the Lost Boys! And Girl!

OC Peter Pan: Beginning Story **Chapter 3** POV 3rd Person

Remember when Raine thought that flying above the clouds at night was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen? That was nothing compared to Neverland.

The island rose up out of a sapphire ocean; silver clouds swirled up and down the mountain and cast rainbows into the dark foliage. White, sandy beaches stretched from the end of the tree line to the sparkling bays where something was always happening. There was a large ship nestled in the cove closest to them, it's sails were drawn and several people could be seen out on its deck. In another, near the top right portion of the island, a large rock sat in the middle of a small bay where several creatures could be seen sunning themselves on it. The top of their bodies appeared to be human but their bottoms were that of fishes. Towards the left part of the island a large plume of smoke streamed upward from a clearing in the jungle. Several large structures could be seen within the clearing, with people milling about them.

"This is Neverland?" Raine exclaimed

"Yeah! You like it?" Peter said slowing down so she could get a better look.

"It's more beautiful than I ever dreamed!" she said continually turning her head so as not to miss a glimpse of anything.

"That's Mermaid Lagoon, there." Peter said pointing to the bay where the figures on the rock were. "And over there's the Indian Village!" He pointed to the plume of smoke. "Over there's the Forbidden Island." Raine looked to see a semi-triangular island just off the coast of one of the bays.

"I don't remember any Forbidden Islands in Jane's stories"

"Well there are a few things that we didn't show Jane or Wendy." Peter said as if he knew more than she did.

"Well, why's it forbidden?"

"The Neverlanders say it's cursed, and they kill anyone who tries to go there, whether they're friends with 'em or not."

"And that's all that's stopping you?" Raine asked raising an eyebrow, "I mean, you're _Peter Pan_! You cut off Captain Hook's hand and threw it to an alligator and you can't get past a few Indians?"

"It's not _that_!" Peter said sounding offended, "I just don't think we should get on their bad side! They helped us out when we really needed it and it wouldn't be right to go repaying them by sneaking on to their Forbidden Island."

Raine was silent for a moment as they cruised over Skull Rock. "That's very noble of you." She said.

Peter smiled and continued on with the tour.

"Over there is Celebration Island, once a year, everyone in Neverland (except for the Pirates) throws a big party on that island. There's music and dancing and eating, it's a lot of fun, I can't wait for you to see it!" As they flew more towards the left of the island Peter pointed to a small cove where a large red ship sat nestled in the middle of it, "And down there's-Whoop! Hang on there!"

The ship suddenly fired a cannonball at them. Peter had to drop quickly to avoid it.

"I'm gonna assume that that's Captain Hook's ship?" Raine cried over the cannon blasts.

"Yep! But don't worry he's not much of a threat, at least not when I'm around!" he dove to the right to dodge another cannon. "Yer gonna have to do better than _that_ Hook!" he ducked another ball and it soared way over their heads. "I've got baggage and you _still_ can't hit me? Man, you're losin' it, Hook!"

An angry yell came from the ship, but it became drowned out by another blast from the cannon. Peter didn't even have to move this time, it soared way to the right. Peter doubled over laughing at him.

More blasts, followed by more dodging left Raine struggling to keep hold of Peter's shirt.

"Uh, hellooo, Peter?" she poked him in the shoulder, "I'm sorry to cut your antagonizing of Captain Hook short, but we've been flying all night and my arms are really starting to get tired."

"Oh right, sorry." He turned back to Hook, "I gotta go but I'll see ya later, Hooky!" he called as they soared away from the inlet with Captain Hook still shouting obscenities behind them.

"So where's your home?" Raine asked as they flew over the mountain.

"Don't forget, it's your home now, too." Peter said pointedly, "We live over more to the east of the island. And I have a back-up tree house closer to the Indian Village."

"You have two houses?" Raine said skeptically. "I don't remember anything about that in the stories."

"Well, this was after Wendy and Jane came to Neverland. The first time Hook found our fort, he destroyed it. We were left homeless for a while after that, 'til we found our new place." Peter swooped down so Raine could get a better look at a waterfall and stopped. "Then, after doing a bit more exploring, we found another hideout that was just as good as the old one. I figure, on the off chance that Hook finds our place again, we won't have to be homeless for ten months 'til we find a new one. We can just use the back up!"

"Hm, that's actually pretty smart." Raine said looking down at the fish swimming down in the lake. Then she caught sight of a few crocodiles hovering at the water's edge, eyeing her and Peter hungrily. "Those are some big crocs'." She said.

"Heh, yeah, you should'a seen the one I threw Hook's hand to, it was probably the biggest crocodile you've ever seen!"

"Oh yes, cutting of a man's hand and throwing it to an oversized, man-eating lizard. I bet that really made his day!" Raine said sarcastically.

They both laughed and Peter was about to fly away from the lagoon when a small glowing fairy rocketed out of the treetops toward them. It hit Raine square in her hands which had been latched around in a chocker-hold around Peter's neck. With a yelp, she let go and plummeted towards the water. Tinkerbell flitted above wearing a smug grin on her face.

Peter didn't even pay attention to Tink as he dove down and caught Raine right before she hit the water. The crocodiles glared at Peter as he flew back up to the treetops clutching Raine to his chest and her hanging onto his neck.

"Why did she just do that?" She shouted still looking down at the alligators for whom she was almost breakfast.

"She was jealous. Damn her, can't she keep her temper under control just once?" He muttered.

"Yeah, Jane told me how she tried to get Wendy killed." She said as she glared at Tinkerbell. Tinkerbell glared right back at her.

Peter flew right up to eye level with her and said, "Dammit, Tink! Every time I bring a girl home you try an' get her killed! Is your ego really so huge that you think you can do anything and get away with it scot-free?"

Tinkerbell flew right up into his face and started trilling.

"I don't want to hear any of it! If I find out that you tried to kill her again you're banished forever, ya hear?"

She stamped her foot and flew off over the waterfall and out of sight.

Peter sighed, "We're almost there." He said as they followed Tinkerbell over the waterfall.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes as Peter flew low over the treetops. Finally, he broke the silence. "You're pretty calm for just having had a near-death experience."

"Meh, I'm used to near-death experiences." She said almost boredly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll tell you another time-Hey! Is that your house?" she exclaimed as she pointed to a large tree in the distance.

"Yeah, there it is!" Peter said proudly. He sped up as it came more and more into view.

When they were within about a hundred yards of the tree fort, six boys came scrambling out of the small huts that the tree held in its branches. They slid down its trunk, down rope ladders, and down thick, green vines that littered its limbs.

As she and Peter landed, all the boys lined up side to side, stiff as boards, and straight as soldiers. All except for one rather large boy on the end who was dressed in a bear suit and sat on the ground. In fact all the boys were dressed in animal suits. Besides the bear, there was a tall boy dressed as a bright red fox, a slightly smaller boy dressed as a white rabbit, two even smaller twin raccoons, and smallest of all was a boy who looked not a day older than six and was dressed in a skunk suit.

Sauntering up behind them, however, was the most intriguing person Raine had ever seen. It was a girl, she looked about Raine's age, but she had a very distinctive appearance. She wore a long, black, tattered overcoat that was frayed and dirty from what seemed like years of wear. A bright red tunic peeked out from underneath the coat and she wore baggy, dark green pants with lots of zippers and pockets. These were tucked into a bright blue goulash on her left foot and a black army-boot on her right. Around her waist hung a large rope with lots of small trinkets hanging off of it. There were feathers and rabbit's feet and raccoon tails, but there were also bottles and bottle caps, and even a grimy ruby encrusted dagger. She also had on tattered gloves with finger holes ripped out of them. She had very long, curly, flyaway auburn hair which was pulled back in a long braid tied with rope at the bottom. In her hair she had stuck a ton of different things from bells and acorns to feathers and small drawstring pouches. Her ears were pierced with precious gems and animal teeth and she had a large ruby nose-ring. On her head she wore a black bowler hat adorned with pins and a large peacock feather. Her skin was fair but her face was covered in freckles, and her wild, light green eyes peeked out from under the brim of the hat. When she moved, a chorus of jingles always sounded with her.

She reminded Raine of an escaped serial killer.

Peter set Raine on the ground and walked up to them as a captain might walk up to his crew. "Well boys and girl," he said in a tone that made him seem more like a leader to the boys rather than one of them, "did you hold down the fort while I was away?"

"Yes sir!" they all shouted at the same time and gave him a salute.

"And did any of you cause Captain Hook any trouble while I was away?" Peter almost shouted the question.

"Oh ooh! I did! Me, me, me!" The skunk boy shouted proudly as he jumped up and down with his hand raised.

"No you didn't!" the fox boy said to the skunk. "I was the one who caused him the trouble!"

"I thought I did!" The bear shouted.

"What're you talkin' about? You didn't do anythin'!" the twins shouted at the same time.

"Excuse me!" the serial killer girl shouted, "But I'm the one who grabbed his hat!" and out of one of her many pockets she produced a bright maroon hat with a large purple feather sticking out of it.

This led to a large wrestling match between everyone as they made a grab for the hat, except the rabbit boy, who just hung back with his hood down as he chewed on a piece of wheat.

Raine stared at the whole thing at little disconcertedly. "And I'm going to live _here?_" she thought.

Peter tried shouting at them to calm down, but when that didn't work, he put his fingers in his mouth and blew an earsplitting whistle. The boys stopped where they were and looked at Peter.

"That's more like it." He said then he turned to Raine, "Raine, these are the Lost Boys." He gestured to the boys who were now struggling to get off of one another.

When they were all off of one another, Peter pointed to the boys and down the line, each one said their name.

"I'm Tubby Ted!" said the boy in the bear suit.

"Gabe" said one of the raccoon twins, "and Felix" said the other.

"They call me Hands!" the girl said with a big smile, "I have no idea why, though."

"Only 'cause you can't keep your _hands_ off o' anything!" the fox boy looked at Raine, "Hello, I'm Prentiss." He held his chin up a little higher.

"Ooh! Ooh! I'm Curtis!" the skunk boy shouted as he raised his hand and jumped up and down.

The rabbit boy stayed silent with his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, and his name is…" Raine started.

"We call 'im James." Prentiss said confidently. "He doesn't talk much."

"Lost Boys and Girl," Peter gestured to Raine, "This is Raine; she's going to be your new Mother."

"Wait, what?" She said, "Wait, I never agreed to that!"

But no one paid any attention as the Tubby Ted groaned, "Aw, another one? Don't' you remember what happened to the other two?"

"Well, this one's different," Peter said, he pointed back at Raine, "she had no place to go when I found 'er, so she has to stay here."

"What about Jane?" Hands asked with her arms crossed. She analyzed Raine from head to toe. Raine looked right back at her, eyes narrowed.

Peter was silent for a second. Finally, he sighed and said, "Jane is no longer with us."

"Wha'd'ya mean?" Prentiss said, "We know she's not here-"

"I mean she's dead!" Peter said a little too forcefully.

They stayed silent, whether it was because of the shock or they were just too afraid to say anything else, it didn't matter.

"Anyways," Peter said trying to draw away from the bad news, "This is Raine, now I want you to make her feel at home, so be nice, and go greet her." He flew up towards one of the rooms in the tree and left Raine to fend for herself against the sudden attack

She didn't even have any time to react before she was surrounded by boys who jabbered all at the same time and pulled her towards the clubhouse. No one noticed Hands steal a zipper off of Raine's bag and stick it in one of her many pockets. They forced her up a rope ladder as they found other means to climb up the tree (whether it was just shimmying up the trunk, climbing up one of the many other ropes, or just waiting of the ladder to clear).

When she got inside the shelter she was surprised to find how spacious it was. It was relatively square with a low ceiling. It was made entirely out of dark wood that had been sawed to resemble boards, except for a clay oven that stood at the far back corner of the room. A high backed chair draped in what looked like mountain lion fur took up most of the back wall, and small windows dotted the surrounding walls at intervals.

"Did you guys build all this, yourself?" She said surprised.

"Well, not completely," the Prentiss said with a sheepishly, "the Neverlanders helped us build it, but we found the spot, ourselves."

"Yeah, it's great!" Gabe or Felix peeked around at her elbow, "Everyone get's their own room, and we don't have to worry about animals accident'ly wanderin' in!"

"Yeah, 'cept fo' the occasional bird or spida'." The Tubby Ted said sleepily.

"Do you know how to tell stories?" the Curtis asked shyly.

"Yeah, tell us a story!" Hands said excitedly.

All the boys chimed in as they ran to surround the high-backed chair which Raine assumed was Peter's chair but which was vacant now. When they got settled they all stared at Raine expectantly.

"Well?" Prentiss said, "Go on, tell us a story."

Raine shifted her feet and didn't say anything for a long moment; finally she sighed and said, "Uh…yeah, well, I haven't really told a story in a long time." She looked down embarrassed.

"It's not that hard." Gabe or Felix said, "Anyone can tell a story."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between telling a story and telling a _good_ story." She said dejectedly. The boys looked crestfallen at her excuse for not telling them a story.

She looked at their disappointed faces and felt bad that she had gotten their hopes up for nothing. Wanting to console them she quickly said, "Look, just give me a week and I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something." She sat down between the bear and the twins. "In the meantime, how about I sing you a song?"

"A song?" Curtis asked.

"You can sing?" Some of the other boys asked.

"Y-yeah, a little." She said shyly, "I-I mean, I'm not the best, b-but I'm not bad either."

"Go ahead, sing us a song!" the Curtis squeaked.

Raine blushed a little before taking a deep breath and then she started to sing. She sang a slow melody that was sad but also beautiful. Like a lullaby but longer and more meaningful.

Eventually, her song ended on a long low note and the boys were broken out of their trance.

"That was really good!" the twins said.

"Can you sing anotha' one?"

"Uh, a-are you sure you wanna hear another?"

This was met by an outburst of pleadings to hear more of her songs until she agreed to sing another song. This is how it went for most of the day, Raine sang and the boys begged to hear more, and she sang some more. Eventually, Peter came in to see where all the music was coming from and even joined in on the singing. At one point, Tinkerbell came in to see who was singing, but when she saw that it was Raine getting all the attention she got angry and left.

As she was singing, Peter got his first real look at Raine. He'd never really focused on her until now, but then again, almost every time he'd seen her she was either behind him or in near darkness.

Peter hadn't really seen many girls in his life (he had really only seen three), but in comparing Raine to all of them, she was defiantly on the pretty side. Not beautiful, but definitely pretty.

She was fairly tall, not as tall as him, but pretty close, her slouch didn't hide that. Her hair was really long and dark blonde and was pulled back in a high ponytail. She was thin, perhaps a bit too thin, like she hadn't eaten enough in the past few months and her light skin was slightly freckled. She had a soft face that came to a soft curve at the chin, with thin lips and a small nose that was a little bulbous at the end. Her eyes were difficult to catch, for they were almost always darting around from one thing to another, analyzing everything. But from the rare time they focused on him, Peter thought he saw blue or green.

It wasn't until late afternoon when Prentiss brought to attention how long they'd been singing.

"Oh jeeze, I'm sorry! I only meant to sing a few songs and be done with it." She blushed (which she had been doing a lot of late.)

"Nah, don' worry about it!" the Prentiss said, "We probably weren't goin' ta do much today, anyways."

"Hey, what's this?" While no one was looking Hands had been digging through Raine's duffle bag. Upon finding a light blue spiral-bound notebook they held it up for everyone to see.

"Hey! Give that back!" Raine made a grab for it but Hands tossed it to Tubby Ted. Ted reached for it, but it slid through his paw-like hands and landed in front of Prentiss. He passed it to James who ducked, and it flew right into Peter's lap. The whole time Raine had been chasing the notebook begging then to give it back to her.

Peter flew up and held the book out of arm's reach of Raine and flipped through it. The book was full of sketches. Some were just simple things like flowers or everyday objects. Others were full color ink and charcoal drawings of everything from people to places.

"Whoa," Peter said as he glided around the room with Raine chasing after him. "Did you do all these?" he held up a picture of two old people strolling through a park.

"Yes! Now would you _please_ be careful with those! I worked really hard on 'em!" She made a grab for the notebook but Peter dodged it and flew over to the circle of boys. He set the book on the floor and they all crowded around it to see.

The next few minutes were taken up by the boys' ooh-ing and aah-ing at the pictures as Peter flipped through the pages. Raine hung back and watched them, her face turned bright red, and she said nothing as the boys continued to go through her notebook.

Eventually, they finished and closed the book. Raine pushed past them, grabbed it from Peter's hands, stuffed it in her bag, and walked out the door without another word.


	4. Raine in the Woods

Peter Pan OC: Beginning Story **Chapter 4** POV 3rd Person

Peter looked at the boys who gave him worried stares and headed towards the door. Peter stopped them before they pulled open the bear skin that covered the doorway.

"Hold on, guys, lemme jus' see what's wrong, okay?"

"But what if she leaves?" Gabe or Felix said.

"She won't leave, she left all her stuff here, see?" Peter pointed to Raine's bag, which Hands continued to sort through. She didn't even notice that everyone was watching her as she pulled out an item, looked at it, and either tossed it behind her, or stuck it into one of her many pockets.

"Don't worry about it!" Peter turned back to the boys, "Look, I'll go see what's wrong. You guys…just…do what you usually do." He floated towards the door, "I'll be back in a little while!"

When he got out he looked around and saw Raine walking off into the jungle on the opposite side of the clearing. She had just disappeared into the bushes when the Lost Boys started walking out of the hut. They watched as Peter followed her into the brush.

The jungle was really thick. Leaves as big as palm fronds covered everything at eye level, and dappled sunlight streamed through the canopy trees and that was all a person saw: green leaves and dappled sunlight. Small footpaths ran into the jungle, but it was very difficult to locate them unless you already knew where they were, and if you didn't, well, the only way out of the jungle would be to fly.

"Raine?" Peter shouted, "Raine, where are you?"All he could see was sunlight and green leaves, but there was no trace of the bright pink dress or denim blue pants she was wearing.

"Raine!" he shouted again. He listened. All he could hear were the sounds of the jungle; the chirping of large birds, the growl of large animals, and a large rustle that came from the bush right behind him,

"Raine?" he pulled out the dagger that hung from his belt and held it up in a defensive gesture.

The bush continued to shake and sooner rather than later a figure fell out of the bush and landed right on top of Peter.

"Ow…" Raine moaned as she rolled off of him. She brushed herself off, and, while still spitting bugs and dirt from her mouth, she offered Peter her hand and helped him up.

"Eh heh, sorry." She said, "It's hard to see where you're goin' in here."

"It's all right," Peter took her hand and she pulled him up, "Why'd you walk off like that?"

"Well, when I get mad, I usually try and cool down by going for a walk." Raine shrugged.

"Why were you mad?"

"I don't usually like showing people my drawings."

"What? But they're so good!"

Raine blushed, "Uh thanks."

"Why don't you show people your drawings?"

She was silent for a moment, she kept her eyes trained on the ground and Peter watched her. He said nothing as he waited for an answer. Eventually, she found her courage, looked up and started to speak.

"Back home, the only person who saw my work was my mother, and when she saw my drawings she…" Just as quickly as her courage had come, it vanished, and she went back to silence.

Peter stayed silent and waited for her to continue, when she didn't he asked "What'd she do?"

She just shook her head and stayed silent.

"Y'know," Peter flew in front of her with his arms crossed, "I'm not gonna show ya how to get home until you tell me." He gave her a playful grin.

She just stared, almost analyzing him.

It was the first time she had gotten a really good look at Peter. He was young but he looked about fourteen or fifteen like she thought. He was lean, not muscular, but toned. His skin looked weathered from many days in the hot sun. He wore a light green tunic, a matching hat with a bright red feather sticking out of the end, and darker green leggings that blended in perfectly with the surrounding jungle. The only thing that would give him away would be his shock of untidy red hair that surrounded his elfish face. His face was boyish but pointed, and his mouth was almost always curved in a mischievous, buck-toothed smile. His elfish ears stuck out from underneath his hat and in his right ear he wore a small gold earring.

Finally, Raine looked into his eyes. They were beautiful eyes. They were a beautiful dark, chocolate brown and if you stared at them for a long time, you'd swear that you saw flecks of gold in them. They were mischievous, playful eyes, still gleaming with boyish curiosity.

Peter also locked eyes with her for a moment before she looked away again, but it was just long enough for him to finally see the color of her eyes: Green. There was no blue like he originally thought, but there were flecks of grey in them. They reminded him of a dark and stormy sea, like the dark green of the ocean and the grey was the foam swirling around in its torrent.

Peter landed back on the ground, "What _is_ your story?"

She was hesitant, "I don't think you wanna know."

"Well in that case," Peter leaned closer, "I wanna know even more!"

Raine's face darkened, "I'm not sure I'd like to tell you."

"I'd suggest you'd better start talkin'." He sat down on a nearby rock and gestured to an empty spot right next to him. "'cause I'm not showin' ya how to get home 'til you tell me."

Raine looked at him; he wore a smirk on his face and looked at her with a triumphant gaze. She looked around the jungle. It was very thick; she couldn't even see beyond the edge of the clearing. She probably couldn't figure out how to get through it during the day; let alone at night, and dusk was quickly falling.

She sighed and walked over to him. Stone-faced, she slowly sat down on the rock, and without even glancing in his direction, she began her tale.


	5. Conflicting Views

Peter Pan OC: Beginning Story **Chapter 5 ** POV 3rd Person

"My childhood started out pretty normal" she began, "My Dad was the president of his company and-"

"Wait, what's a Dad?" Peter interrupted.

Raine then had to explain that "In every family there's a Mother and a Father; aka Mom and Dad. The mother usually takes care of the kids and the father works. At least that's how it used to be in the past. Nowadays, usually both parents work and a nanny (a person whose job it is to take care of kids) takes care of the kids.

"Anyways," she waved her hand as if she were dismissing more of Peter's questions, saying she'll answer them later, "my dad held a steady job, and my Mom stayed home to take care of the kids. I had a normal American life."

"What's 'American life?'" Peter asked.

"America is a country on the opposite side of the Atlantic Ocean, and an American Life is basically a kid who lives in America in a Middle Class society with two parents." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him, it wasn't his fault he hardly knew anything about the modern world.

"What's a Mid-"

"Basically there are three levels of the amount of money a person has: There's Lower Class: the people with little to no money, Middle Class: the people with a good amount of money, and Upper Class: the rich people.

"Oh." Peter said feeling stupider by the minute.

"_Anyways_," she continued, "Life was pretty comfortable, until my parents divorced-and before you ask!" Christi hurriedly said before Peter could open his mouth, "A divorce is what happens when Mom and Dad don't want to stay together anymore. They fight, yell, pack up all their stuff, argue over who gets to keep the kids, decide who's gonna keep the house, fight over who should pay child welfare (money to help take care of the kids), yell some more, and finally take everything and leave."

Raine paused and waited for him to ask a question. When he, surprisingly, didn't, she continued, "After all that happened, it turned out my Mom 'owned us,' so she arranged for us to live with my Grandmother (her Mother), Jane. She lived in London, so I had to move all the way from America to England to live an old person I barely knew."

"So that's how you knew Jane!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, she was nice. I just wish I hadn't dumped all my troubles on her."

"You mean there's more?"

"Well yeah. You don't just run away because your parents don't want to be together anymore, divorces happen all the time."

"Hm," Peter slipped off the rock onto the ground and leaned his head back against the stone. He looked up at Raine, waiting for her to continue.

"So anyways, life was relatively quiet for the first week or so. Jane always told me and my brothers stories about you and we had fun pretending they were part of the Lost Boys and I was the third Lost Girl."

This made Peter smile. Raine gave a small smile back, but it quickly turned back into a frown as the story went on.

"But soon, I fully realized how bad of a situation I was in. We were poor, I knew that much. Jane was too old to work, my brothers and I were too young to work, (I was only nine). My Mom was the only one who could work, but she was in a place where no one could reach her."

Peter looked at her curiously, "I thought she owned you?"

"Yeah, she did."

"And she lived with you?"

"Yeah…"

"Then how couldn't you reach her if she was still there?" Peter looked at her as if she were speaking nonsense.

She sighed, "There's a difference between physically being somewhere and mentally being somewhere, Peter."

Peter stared at her blankly for a second, "I don't follow."

She gave an exasperated sigh, "While my Mother _was_ living with us, she never talked to us. She never ate dinner with us, or tucked us into bed, or just checked if we were still alive for that matter."

"I thought all Mothers were supposed to do was tell stories."

"What? No way! Moms do much more than _that_. Moms take care of and guide their kids, they make sure they eat their veggies, and brush their teeth, and go to school-"

Peter gave her a confused look and Raine realized that he had no idea what any of those things were.

"Never mind, but Mothers are supposed to do more than tell stories. Either way, my Mom did none of things she was supposed to do. She just sat on the couch, watched TV, and drank beer."

"What's a TV?"

"It's a box that tells stories with moving pictures-"

Peter leapt up at this new piece of information. "No way! Really? A box that tells stories? Can we get one?"

Raine drew back in surprise when he jumped up and almost fell off of the boulder. She steadied herself and said, "Uh, Peter, I don't think that's really possible at the moment."

"How's it not possible? We can just go back to your world and get one! I gotta tell the rest of the Lost Boys!" He started zooming into the foliage but Raine wrapped her hand around his ankle and pulled him back.

"Whoa, whoa! Wait, you don't understand! TVs need electricity and some sort of signal to work!"

Peter pulled out of her grasp, "I'm sure we could find some of that around here. It would probably wash up on the Treasure Rocks! I could send everyone out to look there as early as tomorrow!" He started to float away again but Raine grabbed him by his belt and pulled him down to the ground.

"You don't _find_ electricity or signals, they have to be made. And you don't have the technology to make it!"

"Well, why don't'cha _show_ us how to make it?" Peter was starting to get annoyed with Raine's constant defiance against everything fun and interesting.

"I can't! _I_ don't know how to make it!"

"Well, if you don't know how, then how can you say it's impossible?" He stared at her straight in the eyes, daring her to defy him.

"I know enough to know that we can't do it! The only natural electricity around here would be lightning, but even if we could capture lightning, we'd still need a signal. And I'm pretty sure that no signal on Earth could reach a _star_!"

"Ever tried it?"

"No!"

"Then why don't you?"

"Because it _can't be done!_"

Peter groaned, "Look around you! Before, you were saying that this was all a dream, but look! You're on an island surrounded by Pixies and Pirates and Natives which you thought couldn't exist, but do! So why can't you just shut up and try and make something impossible happen?"

"Because," Raine shouted, "We're not talking about just Neverland here, we're talking about the limitations of Earth and you and everything in between!" She got really close to his face and whispered through clenched teeth, "It's. Not. Possible."

She and Peter stared furiously at each other for a few seconds longer before. Twilight was really starting to come on and already their faces were half in shadow. Peter gave a big "huff," crossed his arms, and flew off into the leaves.

"Fine!" he yelled, "Then have fun finding your own way back to the tree house! 'Cause I'm _not_ gonna show you the way!"

"Great!" Raine called after him, "Then you can have fun explaining to everyone why I'm not coming back!" and she turned around and stalked off into the forest without even glancing behind her.

"There's never even anything good on TV, anyways." She murmured angrily to herself.


	6. Beginning the Hunt

Peter Pan OC: Beginning Story **Chapter 6** POV 3rd Person

_ Okay! Chapter 6! Whew! Sorry for the long wait everybody. But school completely took over my life._

_ Finally, the next chapter in my version of Peter Pan!_

_ I know, it's not very long! And I'll update again ASAP, I have a five day weekend ahead of me, and practically nothing to do, so I'll probably be working on this._

_ Alright, enough with my announcements, you probably want to go read the story now._

…

After Peter disappeared into the brush, the Lost Boys stood and waited for a good five minutes before deciding to go about their usual business.

Everyone, except Hands, walked out of the clubhouse. Right off the bat, Felix, Gabe, and Curtis got into a wrestling match (which didn't last too long), and was resolved when Gabe decided to sit on Felix and Curtis.

Prentiss was the only one with enough responsibility to attempt to break them apart.

So while fox-boy was left to take care of the youngest ones, the others left to do whatever they wanted to do.

Tubby Ted, of course, went to find something to snack on. James retired to his tree house to do whatever it was that he did. Hands was the only one left within the main shelter.

She walked to the doorway and was reaching for the bearskin that served as a makeshift door and was about to pull it aside when she looked back and caught the duffle bag within her sight. She hadn't finished going through it when she was interrupted by Raine's mini-tantrum. There was still so much to go through, so many pockets, so many treasures…

Her bright green eyes twinkled as she sped over to the purple bag and started going through it again.

Now, don't go thinking that Hands was a bad person, she just couldn't control herself when it came to adding to her collections. She loved finding knew things, and her room was stocked full of little trinkets she would stumble on; from acorns lying on the ground to priceless treasures, she would steal, pick up, or just flat-out take something if she wanted it. But if it was really someone else's, then she would give it back…if they asked for it…and had proof it was theirs.

About an hour passed by. Everyone was back to doing what they usually did. But every once in a while they would all look towards the spot where Peter disappeared into the jungle. Finally, just as evening started to fall, Curtis had been looking at the bushes when Peter suddenly popped through them.

"Peter, Peter!" He yelled running up to him, "Did'ja bring Raine back with you?"

Peter didn't even acknowledge him as he floated towards the tree house. His face was red and his expression angry.

Hands stepped out of the main tree house as Peter was floating by. "Hey Peter, where's Raine?"

"Who cares?" He huffed, flying straight to his room, "She can go back home for all I care!"

Hands scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What happened?"

Peter stopped just as he was about to enter his hut, and turned to face her. His narrowed brown eyes flashed and his scowl almost sent Hands scurrying for cover. "She just can't admit that some things _are_ possible!" He spat. "Speaking of which," His expression softened slightly as he rose a few feet into the air and shouted "Lost Boys! Atten-SHUN!"

All of the Lost Boys came scampering out from where they were hiding. They all raced up the tree and ladders to where Hands stood staring at Peter. Tubby Ted was the last to arrive, looking as though he had just woken up from a food coma.

"All right, Lost Boys!" Peter shouted, "I couldn't get Raine back but I got somethin' even better!"

"B-But, what could be better than a mother?" Curtis asked shyly.

"Well I'll tell ya! Before she decided to leave, Raine told about this special box called a…tellervision," He said the word slow, trying to pronounce it right, "She said that back in England, whenever people wanted a story they would just turn the box on and it would tell them a story!"

"Get outta here!" The twins said.

"No, I'm serious!" Peter said, getting excited, "I mean, I don't know what kind of stories it tells, but c'mon, _it's a box that tells stories_! It's _better_ than a mother!"

The Boys still looked unsure, so Peter shook his head and said, "Look, all we gotta do is figure out how to build it. Raine said that we needed something called ekeltricity and a signal. We'll go to the Treasure Rocks tomorrow and look for it!"

They looked around and not really knowing what else to do they just shrugged their shoulders and nodded.

All except for Hands. She was glad to finally have another girl around. Ever since Jane left, she had had no one to talk to that really understood…girl things. Now, just as a new girl finally shows up, she's gotta leave 'cause she and Peter got into a fight? Hands wasn't going to stand for it.

When Peter strode proudly into his cabin and the other Lost Boys were back to doing what they were usually doing, Hands stealthily sneaked towards the bushes that Raine had disappeared into a few hours ago.

The sun was almost below the horizon, giving her good cover as she streaked toward the edge of the jungle. She was about to enter the undergrowth when a small voice called out to her.

"Are you goin' to look for Raine?"

Hands spun around, ready to jump into the bushes, but it was only Curtis. "Gosh, you scared me! Where you there this whole time?" Hands asked.

Curtis nodded his head and asked again, "Are you goin' after Raine?"

Hands nodded, "Yeah."

"Don't worry, I won't tell Peter." Curtis said as he scampered off towards the tree house.

Just as the last light of day was vanishing over the jungle horizon, Hands melted into the foliage on her mission to find Raine and bring her back.

…

When Raine and Peter had gone their separate ways, she strode off into the jungle without so much as a second thought on where she was going. As soon as she stepped out of the clearing, she was battered by the dense vegetation again, almost unable to see. This matter was made worse by the fact that light was almost gone from the sky as the sun was behind the horizon.

Raine just shook her head and pushed through the thick leaves. On and on she walked, and the more the light faded, the more frightening her surroundings became. Eyes peered out at her from the darkness, and menacing growls echoed from all around the forest. She was tired and hungry, but didn't dare stop. Raine walked on and on through the jungle, thinking how nothing could be any worse than this, but then it did get worse; it started to rain.

"Great, just _great!_" she stamped her foot into the already muddy ground, "I hope you're happy, Peter! _I hope you're really freakin' happy!_" Thunder rolled across the sky and the leaves shook as water droplets hit them.

Raine rubbed her cold arms and continued squelch through the muck. The rain pelted her harder and harder and within a few minutes she was soaked to the bone. She looked around desperately for shelter, but with the darkness she couldn't see anything. She finally had to settle with ducking down under one of the many broad leaves that kept barring her path. It wasn't completely comfortable, not in the least, and water still dripped on her and pooled up around her legs, but Raine thought that it was still better than walking around out in the rain.


	7. Beginning Another Hunt

Peter Pan OC: Beginning Story **Chapter 7** POV 3rd Person

_Hey, sorry for another announcement, but being that my friend and I made up a lot of new places that tie into this series of stories, I have made a map that shows where all of these places are. It's online right now; I'll provide the link below. So go and check it out if you're having trouble figuring out what/where all these places are._

_ art/Map-of-Neverland-197198932_

…

Hands, now covered in the thick leaves of the Jungle, began to realize just how dumb it was to charge off into the forest in the middle of the night without any form of light or a backup plan in case something went wrong.

Or a way to get back to the tree house.

She especially started to realize this when it started to rain. Hard.

"Note to self: figure out all those things _before_ I go on a search and rescue mission." She muttered to herself.

The mud was sticky and slippery, and Hands almost fell more than a couple of times. She kept bumping into trees and tripping over rocks. Finally, she slipped and plummeted downward. She hit the ground and one of her various pockets tore open, many of her treasures dropping onto the ground. She swore. "Agh! I'm so _stupid_! Why didn't I at least think to bring a lantern?"

She picked herself up, but as she pushed herself upright, and began to search around on her hands and knees for the various items that fell out, but soon realized that this effort was hopeless. She sighed and started to stand up when her hand knocked against something hard.

"Ooh! What's this!" she said excitedly. She picked it up and felt it. It was cylindrical, long, and hard. It was thicker on one end than it was on the other, and around the middle it had a grooved band to make it easier for holding. "I've never found something like this." She murmured. Then she felt some sort of button on one side of the cylinder. "I wonder what this does." She muttered, and she pressed the button.

The device lit up as a beam of bright light shot out of the thicker side. Hands was startled and dropped the object. It hit the ground and the light went out. "What was _that_?" She said, surprised. After taking a moment to let the shock subside, she bent down and started looking for the light-making object.

Finally, she found it. She picked it up again and, this time anticipating it, clicked the button. The beam of light shot out, but Hands didn't drop it. Instead, she hesitantly ran her hand through the beam and was surprised to find that she couldn't feel it. It was just light.

To try and get a better look at where the light was coming from she turned the beam toward her face. This resulted in her dropping the device again due to the surprise at getting an eye full of bright light. But she managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Okay, let's _not_ do that again." She thought to herself as she tried to blink the white spots from her eyes. Aiming it at the trees, she found that it lit the path in front of her very well. She started walking in the direction that she was going before, and now had a much easier time not falling over everything in her path.

…

Meanwhile, Raine sat in the spot she had been sitting in for the past few hours. Drenched to the skin, she shivered violently.

"Stupid Peter, stupid Lost Boys, stupid Neverland…this place _sucks_!" She muttered. Yet through all of her cursing she couldn't bring herself to say that she wanted to go back home. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to block out thoughts of home. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't push the memories that time out of her mind. She squeezed her eyes tighter, trying to force the memories out when, just then, the broad leaf above her head gave way and she was drenched in a waterfall of rainwater. She howled in frustration and, before she could help it, she started to cry.

She buried her head in her arms and sobbed; she cursed Peter for abandoning her in the forest, Neverland for existing in the first place, her mother for being a selfish cow, her life for sucking, and finally herself for being so naïve to believe that in running away from her problems she could find peace.

She was so swallowed up by self-pity that she didn't even notice when a bright beam of light shone upon her, or when Hands knelt down next to her. She only noticed she wasn't alone when Hands reached out and grasped her shoulder. Raine jumped and looked at Hands.

"How long have you been sitting there?" She gasped trying to wipe away the tears.

"Not very long, only about five minutes or so." She shrugged.

"And you just sat there and watched me cry that whole time?"

"Yep!" She nodded, "My policy is that you should let people express their emotions and don't interfere when they're trying to let something out."

"But you put your hand on my shoulder and caused me to stop crying."

"Yeah, well, you were carrying on quite a bit; cursing your life, your mom, yourself…I thought that it was time for you to stop."

"But isn't that being a little hypocritical?"

"What's a hypocritical?" Hands stood up and extended a hand to help Raine up, which she gladly took. "Anyways, what were you and Peter fighting about in the first place? Something about a tellervision?"

Raine let out an exasperated sigh, "He's just being stupid. He thinks that anything is possible just because this is Neverland and somehow everything is possible here."

"Well you can't really blame him, can you?" Hands said, "I mean, looking at Earth, hardly anything's possible in that place, an' here…well…they don't call it _Never_land for nothing."

Raine creased her eyebrows in confusion, wouldn't calling it Neverland make it logical to assume that nothing is possible? Nothing? Never? Impossible? She shook her head; she didn't get it.

They were both silent for a few moments until Hands broke the silence.

"So what is a tellervision, exactly?"

Raine resisted the urge to roll her eyes; Hands was being nice to her, she wasn't going to drive her off by making her feel inferior. She tried to put it in simple terms. "Like I told Peter, it's a box, and when you turn it on it tells you stories with moving pictures. But not all the stories are good ones, usually they're really stupid, but some are really interesting and even sad."

"Hm, sounds really cool!" Hands said, "You know, I bet if we find one Peter will let you back into the Lost Boys!"

"And why the heck would I want to go back. He left me out here."

"I thought you ran off."

"Oh, whatever, it doesn't matter. I still don't want to go back."

"So, you just want to wander around here forever?"

Raine opened her mouth. Closed it. Looked away. Let out a sigh and then stayed silent.

"Look," Hands said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Peter can be a bit selfish, and egotistical, and hot-headed, and thick-headed, but he means well. If you're willing to compromise with him, then you two will get along great."

Raine gave her an incredulous look.

Hands then put her begging face on and said in her most pleading pathetic voice, "Oh come on and think about the Lost Boys they were so happy to have a new mother and they loved your singing and your drawings and they were so excited and if you leave them they'll be so disappointed and you should have seen their faces when you left and when Peter told them that you were gone and you wouldn't want to leave them you saw their faces and-"

Raine then sighed, laughed and put a hand to Hands' mouth, "Okay, okay, I'll try to find a television so that I can come back."

Hands' let out a whoop and pulled Raine into a big bear hug, and after letting go Raine had to catch herself because Hands' had practically squeezed the life out of her.

"Heh, sorry, I like hugs." Hands said, "so, how do we get a television?"

"Well, I don't know. I wouldn't even know where to start looking, or how to gather the parts, or how to build one."

"Hm…" Hands thought, "I know who we might be able to ask about finding one."

"Really?" Raine asked skeptically, "Who?"

"He's a good friend of mine, I've known him for years! His name's Teague."

"Tig?"

"No, Teague" Hands said, "Tee-guh."

"What kind of name is that?"

"I dunno. He said it was, like, Irish, whatever that is. Anyway, he's really smart. I bet he could tell us how to get one!"

"Great! Sounds like a plan! Where is he?"

"Eh…" Hands looked around as if afraid that someone might overhear them, then she leaned in really closed and whispered, "He's…kind of…on Captain Hook's ship."

Raine took a step back, "Y-you're tellin' me that you have a friend on Peter's arch nemesis' side?

"On what?"

"You and Peter fight Captain Hook and his crew and yet you have a friend in his ranks. Does Peter know about this?"

"Okay, yeah, yeah. Look, Peter doesn't know about him, and Hook doesn't know that we are friends and I'd like to keep it that way. He could be in huuuuuuuge danger if Hook finds out about him. And Peter? Well, I just…"

"Don't trust him enough to not accidentally let Teague's cover slip?" Raine finished.

"Heh, yeah. And you seem like you're smart enough to know how important it is that he doesn't get revealed, so…"

"Yeah, don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me."

They both smiled, knowing inside that in sharing a secret, they had made a good friend.

"Shall we go?" Raine said, making a gesture that invited Hands to take the lead.

"'Course! Follow me!"

And they walked side by side through the Jungle towards the notorious ship of Captain Hook.


	8. Arrival at the Ship

Peter Pan: Beginning Story **Chapter 8** POV 3rd Person

Raine and Hands walked all night through the jungle, past waterfalls, over hills, and into caves. All the time talking about their lives and adventures.

"So, what was your life like before you came here?" Raine asked.

"Hm, you know, honestly, I—oh! Acorn!" Hands then lunged towards the ground and snatched up a rather large acorn that had been lying in the mud. Holding it up triumphantly, as someone might hold of a trophy, she kissed it and then stashed it into one of her many pockets.

"That's, like, the tenth acorn you've picked up. Don't you think you might have enough?"

"Never! You can never have too many acorns!"

"And what do you do with them, might I ask?"

Hands thought for a moment. "Um…I dunno, I lose a lot of them, and the others…I just sort a' keep 'em in my room." She gave a shrug, "Do I have to do somethin' with them?"

"Well, it just seems so…pointless to not do anything with them." Raine replied, "Why collect something if you're not going to use it?"

"Well, haven't you ever done somethin' for no reason at all?"

"Um…" Raine thought for a moment and realized that she had done many things for no reason at all, but she wasn't about to admit that. So she quickly changed the subject. "So what did you say your life was like before you came here?"

"Oh, yeah, I have no idea."

"You forgot?"

"Yeah, pretty much. That's the thing about Neverland. It grows on you until you can't figure out if you came here on your own or if you were made here. Some say it's a blessing, others say it's a curse. Me? I don't really care!"

"Really…" Raine couldn't help but feel a bit unsettled by this fact. While it was true that she had come here to escape from her life, she didn't want to forget who she was or where she came from. That was part of who she was. "I'll need to remember to write down my past when I get home." She thought to herself.

"What about you? What was your life like 'fore you came here?"

"Oh…I…um…you probably wouldn't want to hear about that."

"C'mon, you asked me. Now it's your turn to tell!" And Hands proceeded again to give her the puppy-dog-eyes that Raine couldn't resist.

"Oh goodness, fine, fine, I'll tell you."

And so Raine began her story, going all the way back to the beginning, doing her best to explain everything Hands didn't understand. Hands did her best to pay attention, though it was quite difficult with all the things she kept finding as she led Raine along the trail.

"So you're mother did nothin' for you?" Hands asked as Raine began going into detail about her mother's neglect.

"Yeah, pretty much. It wasn't so bad when Jane was alive. I mean, then we still had someone looking out for us. But after she was gone…well…it seemed pointless to stay anymore. My brothers and I had grown so far apart. I didn't know my mother anymore. I was living in a house of strangers. I couldn't take it anymore. So I left,"

"What about your brothers?"

"They're both 14. They're twins. They have jobs, and they can take care of themselves. They don't need me, and like I said, I didn't even know them anymore." She kicked a rock and watched it fly down the path and into some bushes.

"I'm sorry t' hear that."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather be here than there, anyway. By the way, are we there yet? We've been walking all night."

"Pretty much." They stepped out onto a rocky beach overlooking the dark water of Captain Hook's bay. The land jutted out on opposite sides and the ship rested close to the side nearest to them. From the distance of where Raine was, she could see that the ship was pained blood red, it had three masts, all of which had black sails, though none of them were unfurled. She could also see that even though it was still early in the morning, there was activity on the deck of the ship as she could make out little dots scurrying about along the ship.

"C'mon!" Hands beckoned to her from just inside the tree line, "Move! Or the lookout 'll see us!"

Raine jumped into the foliage and followed Hands as they slowly made their way towards Captain Hook's ship. After about a ten minute walk, they were finally close enough to where they could see the ship easily, but still be safe if by chance any of the crew decided to come ashore.

Hands just stood there and watched the ship while Raine stood and stared at Hands.

"Okay, um, now what?" Raine asked, folding her arms impatiently.

"Now, we wait." Said Hands, rather contentedly.

"Wait for what?"

"For nightfall. It's too dangerous to try an' sneak aboard in the middle of the day. We'll have to wait until most of the crew are asleep."

Raine deflated at the thought of having to boringly wait around all day. "So what'll we do until then?"

"Get some sleep, I guess. We've been walking all night, after all."

It was only after Hands said this that Raine realized how tired she was. For they had, truly, been walking all night. And Raine had not had any real sleep since the day before the night she had run away. And honestly, she would like nothing more than to just curl up into al little ball and go to sleep right now.

Hands began to shimmy her way up a fairly tall tree. "You comin'?" she called back down.

"Uh…I don't really know how to climb trees." She called back up, craning her neck so as to try to see to the top of the tree.

"It's easy!" Hands had already reached one of the lower branches and was peering down at her with a big grin. "Just wrap your arms around the trunk, and use your legs to push yourself upward!" She demonstrated by climbing even higher up the trunk. "an' when you get t' the higher part" she grabbed on to one of the branches closest to her, "you can use the branches as footholds!" She was almost out of sight now. 'C'mon! it's easy!"

Raine looked down at the trunk, then back up, than back down, then back up. And, unwilling to back away from a challenge, she took a few steps back, crouched down into a runner's stance, ran as fast as she could at the tree, took a flying leap and proceeded to hit the tree face first and fall flat on her back staring, dazed, at the leaves.

"You okay? That looked like it really hurt!"

Raine pushed herself up and frowned. She was not going to give up that easily.

"What was that s'pposed t' do, exactly?"

"Just warming up! Give me a minute!"

Hands gave her several, in fact. And it was about 15 minutes before Hands got bored of watching Raine grow more and more frustrated with every failure at climbing the tree. So, finally, she climbed down and landed next to Raine.

"Maybe we could try this another time."

"No, _huff huff_, I don't want to give up yet, _huff puff_, one more go…"

"Raine, c'mon, we're both tired. There're tons of trees. We're in a jungle after all. You'll learn eventually, but we need some sleep, now. C'mon. I'll make a bed on the ground."

"But…"

Hands put a hand on her shoulder. "Don' worry, I'll give you private lesson on how t' climb later. We need t' sleep now." And with that, Hands led a disappointed Raine to a pile of dried leaves where she fell down and fell instantly asleep. Hands watched her for a moment, then tramped off into the woods to see if she could find them some breakfast.

After picking up some new items, of course.


	9. Danger on the Rocks

_Long Chapter is LONG! Heh, sorry about that. Originally, this chapter and the next one were just going to be one big chapter, but after I finished typing up Prentiss' adventure, I saw that this is the biggest chapter I've written so far._

_ Anyway, on with the story. I hope you enjoy reading, because I really enjoyed writing this part._

…

"Alrighty gang! Wake up! Let's go! Let's go!" The sound of Peter's shout woke Prentiss from his deep sleep. He would've much rather just slept in until he, himself, decided to get up, but that wouldn't be setting a good example for the rest of the boys.

He rolled out of his bed, which was not much of a bed, so to speak, but rather some branches tied together to make a sort of frame, a "mattress" of palm leaves interwoven together, and a small pile of furs that served as bedding. He grabbed his fox hood from a nail hanging beside his bed. Brushing his long dark brown hair out of his dark blue eyes, he pulled on his fox hood (he didn't need to find his red fox shirt and pants, as he was already wearing them). Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he shuffled out of his hut to see Peter rounding up the rest of the Lost Boys.

"He must really want to get something done today." Prentiss thought while trying to stifle a yawn, "He usually leaves me to wake everybody up."

"Prentiss! Come down here!" Peter called, "We're going to find a tellervision today! Remember?"

"Oh yeah," He muttered, sliding down one of the many ropes onto the ground where, Curtis, Gabe, Felix, Tubby Ted, James, were waiting with Peter and Tinkerbelle floating just overhead. "Tink must've come back when Raine left" Prentiss thought. Hands wasn't with them, but it didn't really matter. She played more by her own rules than the rest of them. They would catcher up to speed later.

"Alright! Listen up! Today, we are going to search the island for the things we need to build a tellervision."

"But, how do we do that?" Curtis asked sleepily.

"Well, I've been thinking about that. Yesterday, when Raine left, she told me the three things we need in order to build this tellervision: a box, a signal, and ekeltricity. So, I'm splitting us up into three groups to find these three things. And when we get back at the end of the day, we'll put them all together and then we'll have our own tellervision!" He puffed out his chest at how proud he was of his master plan.

"Just one problem," Prentiss said from down below, "we have no idea what a signal or ekeltricity is."

Peter deflated slightly when he realized this. However, he perked back up almost immediately so as not to look feeble in front of the rest of the Lost Boys. "Well, Raine told me that the only kind of ekeltricity she knew of on Neverland would be lightning, so I bet we could find some and trap it." Peter looked down at Gabe, Felix, and James. "You three," he said, pointing at them, "Get on it! That's your job for today."

"Yes sir!" The twins said together. They gave a salute and scampered off, but stopped in the shade of a tree, not too far away, and huddled together so as to work out how, exactly, they could find lightning. James nodded his head at Peter and sauntered over to the twins where he proceeded to lean on the tree and watch them.

"Alright, so now we need to find a signal. Curtis. Tubby Ted."

"Yes, sir!" squeaked Curtis. Tubby Ted had fallen asleep.

"You two, go wake Hands up. You'll be heading to the Treasure Rocks; see what you can find. Whatever you do find, bring it back so we can look at it and see if it's a signal."

"Yes, sir!" Curtis then scampered up the tree, knowing full well that Hands was not in her room and was still, in fact, searching for Raine.

"Peter, are you sure you should be sending Curtis to the Treasure Rocks?" Prentiss asked, "I mean, he's little, if they're not careful, he could get seriously hurt."

"Nah, don't worry 'bout it." Peter said, waving a hand distractedly. "He's big enough to take care of himself. And Hands and Tubby Ted'll be there."

"Yeah, cuz Hands can always be counted upon to be super careful." Prentiss muttered.

"Peter! Hands ain't here!" Curtis shouted from Hands' room

"What?"

"She ain't here! Her room's empty!"

Peter flew up to Hands' room, infuriated that she wasn't here when he needed her. He looked into her empty room, then grabbed his hat and threw it on the floor in frustration. "Why is it that she's always here when we're not doing anything, then the second we need her, she disappears!"

He grabbed his hat and glided out of the room with Tink close at hand trying to calm him down. He gave a frustrated sigh. "Prentiss!" He called.

"Yeah?"

"You're gonna have to go with Curtis and Tubby Ted to the Treasure Rocks!"

"Alright!" Prentiss then bent down and shook Tubby Ted. He woke up slowly, yawned and stretched, then stood up. Curtis bounded down and took Prentiss' hand and together they marched into the Jungle to the Northern stretch of the Island where the Treasure Rocks were.

"Alright, Tink, now all you and I need to do is find a box! C'mon, I'll bet the Neverlanders know where to find one!" And Peter and Tinkerbelle disappeared over the treetops toward the Neverlanders' village.

Meanwhile, Gabe, Felix, and James were still working out how to capture lightning.

"So, where should we start lookin'?" Gabe asked.

"I dunno, where do we usually find lightning?" Felix replied, twisting his tail.

"In the rain! Right? There's usually lightning when it's raining."

"But what about thunder, should we try an' get that, too? Maybe it has something to do with lightning."

"Nah, Peter said we just needed lightning. That's what has the ekeltricity in it."

"Okay, so how do we get it then?"

"Hm…" Gabe thought for a long moment, "We'll get a jar!" He suddenly exclaimed, "And then when the lightning comes, we'll catch it and bring it back!"

"Okay, but where's the lightning?"

"In the Rain, stupid, like I just said!"

"But it's always raining somewhere on the island! By the time we get to where we last saw rain, it'll be already gone!" Felix sat down. "This is gonna be really hard."

James then sauntered over to Gabe and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Huh? What is it, James?" James pointed to the mountain in the middle of the island where dark clouds were always churning. Gabe gasped and jumped up and down in excitement. "Yeah, yeah! You're right James! It's always raining on the mountain!"

"Yeah! Great work James!" Felix scampered up the tree and in a moment, returned with a jar. "C'mon! Let's go get that lightning!" And they took off into the jungle towards the big mountain.

…

By the time Gabe, Felix, and James reached the base of the mountain, Prentiss, Curtis, and Tubby Ted were rowing out to the Treasure Rocks.

Now the Treasure Rocks are nestled in the sea on the most northern part of the island. There are various rocks that jut out of the sea, some big enough to fit five people of, some barely enough to stand on. Every day at high tide, the rocks are fully submerged in the water, but once the tide recedes, a new, rare treasure is nestled among them. No one knows where it comes from, and half the time, no one knows what it even is. But once the tides come back in, it is washed away and never comes back to the Treasure Rocks. It is quite dangerous to go out there when the tides start to come in, as they do so very quickly. But that does not stop many a greedy individual from going anyway.

"Alright," Prentiss said, as they neared the rocks, "its low tide right now so we'll have to find the treasure quickly. Curtis, you take the rocks on the far left, Tubby Ted, you look at the rocks on the far right, and I'll take the middle. We clear?"

"Whatta we do when we find it?" Curtis asked.

"Just call out that you found it and head back to the boat." Prentiss replied. The rowboat gently nudged one of the rocks, and they all bounced a bit on the impact. "Alright, everyone ready? Let's go."

Tubby Ted hopped, more or less, from the boat and made his way over to the rocks on the right-most side. Prentiss lifted Curtis out of the boat and onto the rocks and watched as he scampered to the rocks on the left. Then he turned and started searching the rocks around the center of the area.

They searched and searched for the next few hours, coming up with nothing. The sun was hot that day, but the sea spray managed to keep them cool. Finally, just as the time for the tides to come in was drawing close at hand, Curtis saw it: the treasure! Just a few rocks away. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was the only thing that seemed out of place on the rocks. "I've found it!" He called to the others.

"Great!" Prentiss called back, "Grab it and we'll meet you back at the boat!"

"'Kay!" It didn't take too long for Curtis to hop over to the rock that had the treasure. The treasure was a large, black cube with each face about twice the size of his hand. The material it was made out of could not be placed as it looked neither rock, nor wood, nor any kind of material he knew. He reached out and grabbed it in his grubby hands. He was surprised at how light it was. He lightly tossed it and caught it. The cube had no details, no markings; it was as smooth as glass.

It was as he was feeling the cube that Curtis noticed a wet feeling on his feet. He looked down and realized that the tides were already rising and had practically covered the rock he was on. He looked around and saw that already, half the rocks were completely submerged. Curtis started to panic. "Prentiss!" he shouted, jumping to a nearby rock. "_Prentiss!_"

Prentiss was just helping Tubby Ted into the row boat when he heard Curtis screaming. He looked up and the color drained from his face. He shot out of the boat. "Ted! Be ready to pull us in when I get back!"

"Where're ya goin'?" Tubby Ted called from the boat.

"Curtis is still out there." Prentiss shouted jumping from rock to rock as fast as he could.

Curtis, meanwhile, was still stranded on the rock he hopped on. This rock was a bit bigger than the other one, and the water had not quite reached the place where he was standing, yet. But it was getting quite close. However, there were no unsubmerged rocks close enough for him to jump to, so he cowered on the rock and watched Prentiss make his way over to him. "Prentiss, hurry!" He shouted, unable to hide his growing panic.

"Just hang on! I'm almost there!" The water was making it quite difficult for Prentiss to see where the rocks were. One slip, and he would be sent splashing into the churning water, bashed against the rocks until he could no longer keep consciousness, and then helpless as he drowned.

Finally he got close to the rock that Curtis was on. All the rocks that were closest to Curtis' were completely underwater. "Curtis! Can you jump to me?" Prentiss shouted.

"No! It's too far!"

"Alrighty then! I'll jump to your rock! Just hang on a bit longer!" Prentiss took a step back, crouched, then took a flying leap and landed half submerged in the water on the rock the Curtis was on. "Get on my back!" he shouted, clinging to the rock.

"Are we swimming back to the boat?"

"No! Just get on!"

Curtis stepped down and hooked one arm around his neck, and held onto the treasure with the other. Prentiss climbed up onto the rock. The water was already so high that even while standing on the rock, it was at his calves. Looking around, only the biggest rocks were still unsubmerged, but just barely.

Prentiss saw a rock not too far away from him. Curtis couldn't have made that jump, but he could. Prentiss took another leap, and landed square on the rock. He did the same with the other rocks as he made his way back to the boat. It was tiring work, as he was putting more and more energy into his jumps as the water grew higher and higher and made it harder and harder to see whether or not he was jumping onto a rock or into the ocean. He slipped a couple of times and almost sent them hurtling into the sea, but somehow managed to keep his balance. Finally, he got close enough to the boat where he could throw a stone at it and hit it if he wanted to.

But he couldn't jump that far.

"C'mon! You're almost there!" Tubby Ted called from the boat. He couldn't row it over to them, as there was a very good chance that he would scrape a hole in the boat on the shallow rocks. And then they'd _really_ be doomed.

Prentiss knew there were rocks between his and the boat, but with the water now so deep, it was impossible to tell where.

"Prentiss, h-how're we g-gonna get t' the boat?" Curtis asked, unable to stop shaking with fear. Prentiss could feel him quake on his back.

"I'm gonna jump. How else?" He flashed him a smile, to try and make him feel better.

"C-can you jump that far?"

"Course I can. Just watch."

Curtis seemed to calm, if only just a little. And that gave Prentiss the strength to take a leap of faith. He soared through the air, legs flailing for when he (hopefully) hit one of the rocks between them and the boat. Curtis watched as they flew then fell and covered his eyes. Prentiss, heart beating wildly, felt his stomach fly up into his ears as his foot made contact with the water, and then his foot hit rock. He had one moment of pure relief before he remembered that he was still in the water. He pushed off the rock and grabbed onto the side of the boat. Tubby Ted, obviously relieved that they had both made it grabbed Curtis and pulled him into the boat, then helped Prentiss into it, as well.

Once they were all into the boat, Tubby Ted picked up the oars and began rowing away from the terrifying rocks. Curtis, still trembling a little, scooted over to Prentiss and nuzzled up against him. Prentiss took off his fox hood and leaned his head back against the side of the boat, not willing to move from that spot ever again.

Once they were on shore, they tied the boat to a nearby rock, climbed out, and collapsed on the beach.

"So what was the treasure we got?" Tubby Ted asked. Curtis was still clutching it in his hands. They all crowded around it in order to get a better look at it. They each took turns passing it around.

"Could it be some kind a' tool?" Prentiss asked, feeling one of the sides.

"Maybe it's food." Tubby Ted said as grabbed it from Prentiss' hands. He looked at it for a moment before licking it. Prentiss and Curtis looked at him.

"Well?"

"What's it taste like?"

Tubby Ted thought for a long moment before he finally said, "Nothing."

"You mean it's like nothing you've ever tasted before?" Prentiss asked.

"No, I mean it tastes like nothing."

"Huh, well, whatever it is, it's all we're bringing Peter. I really don't feel like going back to the Treasure Rocks, today." Prentiss walked over to the boat and started pulling it up onto shore more. Curtis nodded in agreement and ran to help Prentiss.

"Bu' won't Peter be mad?"

"I don't care if his ears start spoutin' steam. I'm not riskin' Curtis' life or any of our lives like that again today." Satisfied with where the boat was, he walked over to Tubby Ted and grabbed the cube. "You can go back if you wanna, just be careful." Prentiss then strode off along the beach, back in the direction of the tree house. Curtis ran to catch up with him, and grabbed his hand. Prentiss looked at him for a moment, then bent down and let him climb up on his back, and continued walking. Tubby Ted took one last look at the sea, then followed Prentiss into the jungle.


	10. A Fight Breaks Out!

Gabe, Felix, and James struggled up the mountainside, slipping and sliding through the mud, struggling to keep a foothold in the wet ground. It rained, but didn't storm, which made it easier for them to climb, however it didn't bode well for their quest to capture lightning in their jar.

Finally, gasping for breath, all three of them hauled their way over the ledge of a cliff and onto soft, flat ground. Panting and rasping, they rolled onto their backs and let the rain hit their faces, washing away a lot of the dirt and grime. Finally, Felix sat up and turned to Gabe.

"Aren't we supposed t' look for lightning?" He asked.

"Right!" Gabe said, sitting up straight. "Alright, everyone spread out! If anyone sees a lightning strike, let me know so we can go get the ekeltricity and put it in the jar."

Felix and James nodded and they all began to fan out in search of lightning and ekeltricity. They spent over an hour walking around in the rain and searching the skies for any sign of a lightning strike. At the end of the hour, they were soaked to the bone and quite miserable.

"Gabe, can we give up now?" Felix whined.

"No, we have to find the ekeltricity for Peter!" Gabe snapped. If there was one thing he hated, it was when people gave up on things. Especially when Peter was involved.

"But I'm tired, and wet, and hungry."

"Well too bad!" Gabe flared up, "Peter asked us specifically to find the ekeltricity, an' we're gonna do it for him! No matter how long it takes!"

"B-but Gabe…" Felix started to sniffle, and his eyes started to brim with tears. One look and Gabe knew he was going to give in.

He sighed, "Alright, alright, fine. Go take a short break in the cave I saw back there. But stay near the entrance, and don't go too far in!"

Felix gave a small smile and hugged his brother, then scampered of towards the mouth of the cave. Gabe looked around and saw James wandering not too far away, his neck craned skyward. He looked up, too, still hoping to find any sign of lightning.

Meanwhile, Felix, finally in the cave, took off his hood and wringed it, trying to get out as much water as possible. Once he was satisfied, he placed the hood onto a nearby rock to let it dry out a bit more, then sat down and leaned back against the rock and closed his eyes. The cave was cold and dark, but at least it was dry. The ground was dirty and dusty and there was an overpowering smell of mustiness. The sound of the rain was very soothing, and before he knew it, Felix had fallen asleep.

…

Felix woke with a start.

"Wh-where am I?" He muttered, stifling a yawn. It took him a few moments, but his memory finally caught up with him. He sat up straight and looked around. It was still light out, (or as light as it could be during a shower) so there was no way to tell how long he'd been asleep.

"I'd better get back to Gabe." He thought, "He's probably mad that I've been in here so long." In truth, Felix really hadn't been asleep too long, and Gabe was too distracted looking for lightning to think about his brother.

Felix grabbed his hood and got up to leave, but just as he got near the entrance, he noticed that there was a light coming from somewhere deeper in the cave. He turned around and faced the back of the cave. The light was not very bright, and was gold in color. As he crept closer to it, he noticed the temperature of the cave got slightly warmer.

Finally, he reached the back of the cave and was surprised when he found the source of the light.

"They're just…rocks?" He tentatively picked one up and examined it, and sure enough, that's what it was. The rocks were an opaque, yellowish color. Sort of like amber, but not as dark. They gave of a faint golden glow, and felt slightly warm in Felix's hand, as if they had been sitting out in the sun for a little while. He let it sit in the palm of his hand. It was almost perfectly round and smooth, like one of the ocean rocks that had been weathered down by the waves. It was also fairly large, almost the same size as his palm.

"I gotta show these to Gabe!" He exclaimed, running out into the rain. "Gabe! _Gabe!_" He shouted from just outside the mouth of the cave, "Come here!"

"What is it?" Gabe shouted, still looking up at the sky.

"I think I found some ekeltricity! Come look!"

Both Gabe and James tore their gazes away from the sky and sprinted over to where they had seen Felix disappear. They walked into the cave to find Felix dancing in place next to a glowing pile of rocks.

"What is that?" Gabe asked, his eyes growing big in surprise.

"I think its ekeltricity!" Felix grabbed a rock and thrust it into Gabe's hands, "Look at it! It glows just like lightning. Ekeltricity would do that, right? _Right?_"

"I…I _think_ it would." Gabe said, looking at it more closely, "It's all we got, so let's take it back to Peter, see what he thinks." Gabe knelt down and started shoving as many of the glowing rocks into it as he could. By the time the jar was full, it was fairly heavy. "Alright, let's go!" Gabe said. And they set off into the rain on their way back to camp.

…

The sun was low in the sky when Gabe, Felix, and James came striding into the campground carrying what they thought was ekeltricity. They were the second group to arrive, as Prentiss was leaning back against the trunk of their tree playing catch with Curtis, Tubby Ted was no doubt inside sleeping. Or eating, depending on his mood. Prentiss tossed Curtis the ball, which he missed, and catching sight of the approaching trio, stood up, brushed the dirt off his trousers and walked out to greet them.

"How was the hunt?" He asked when he got close. Upon catching sight of the glowing rocks, his eyebrows shot up and he took a step back. "Whoa, is that…?"

"They're ekeltricity!" Felix shouted, "I found them in the back of a cave!"

"Isn't it great?" Gabe said, holding up his prize, "Now when Peter gets back with the box we can put them together with your signal and have the tellervision!"

"Yeah…about that…" Prentiss said rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. He quickly reiterated the story of what happened on the rocks and how they decided to call it quits early and return with only one treasure and how they weren't even sure if it was a signal.

"So…you an' Curtis almost died today?" Felix asked, or more like stated.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Just then, Curtis ran towards Prentiss shouting "I got it! I got it!" holding the little ball high in his fist before he tripped on his skunk tail and went sprawling in the dirt. The ball rolled out of his hands and hit Prentiss' foot. He picked it up and walked over to Curtis. The others migrated over to him.

"Whoa," Gabe said, "You know Peter's gonna be really angry when he gets back an' finds out you didn't get a signal."

"Speaking of which…" Felix pointed up to the clouds where Peter was looping and diving, clearly having the time of his life. "Hey! Peter! Down here!" Felix called, waving his arms.

Peter waved and descended, landing in front of them on the ground. He held a wooden box in his right hand. It was made out of wooden boards and open at the top. It looked like it used to store something; there were stains all along the inside. It looked fairly well made.

He crowed and set the box on the ground in front of him. He then folded his arms across his chest and held his chin high, not hiding the fact at all that he was very proud of himself.

"Alright, men! I take it that you were all successful in finding the parts to the tellervision." He smiled, knowing that his brilliant plan was all finally coming together.

"We got the ekeltricity!" Gabe and Felix held aloft their jar of rocks, both showing smiles that stretched from ear to ear.

"That's what ekeltricity looks like?" Peter examined the jar closer, "They look more like rocks to me."

"Yeah, we know." Gabe said, "they light up in the dark, just like lightning. And since ekeltricity comes from lightning, anything that looks like lightning has to come from it. Right?"

Peter smiled, "Alright. Well, put it in the box. Now all we need to do is put in the signal that Prentiss found and we'll have our tellervision!" Peter turned to Prentiss, "Alright, give us the signal, Prentiss." He stretched out his hand, waiting for Prentiss to put the signal in his open palm.

Prentiss looked at Peter's hand for a second, then he tossed the black box that Curtis found at him. It hit him in the chest and Peter juggled it in his hands for a few second trying to get a hold of it. Once he had it enclosed in his hands, he held it up to eye level and examined it.

"So…I take it this is a signal?" He asked.

"I have no clue what it is." Prentiss responded stony faced, "But it's all we came back with."

"What?" Peter said, taking his eyes of the black cube, "What do you mean that's all you came back with? You were out there all day, weren't you?"

"No," Prentiss clenched his fists, "We weren't. Because-"

"So you're tellin' me you disobeyed your direct orders?"

"Yeah, Peter, I did. Because-"

Peter floated off the ground and floated close to Prentiss' face. In actuality, they were both about the same size, Prentiss even maybe being a little taller. Which is why Peter floated over him; it made him seem bigger.

"You had one job," Peter growled, "and you didn't do it. Why?"

"Because, Peter," Prentiss moved his face even closer to Peter's, "Curtis and I almost died trying to get that treasure right there."

"Well, maybe if I had sent someone other than you, then that wouldn't've even happened in the first place!" Peter was turning as red as a tomato, "Maybe then we could've gotten a signal!"

"Do you even care that we almost died?"

"Of course I care! But you also had a job that you didn't do!"

"Well I think these jobs are pointless! If you ask me, I think we were better off with Raine."

"Nobody asked you."

"You didn't ask anybody." Prentiss' voice got really low, "You made that decision without asking anybody else."

"I'm the leader. I'm supposed to make decisions."

"Well what if no one likes your decisions?"

"Then they should just say so!"

"Fine." Prentiss turned away from Peter and walked towards the rest of the Lost Boys. Puffing his chest out, he said in his calmest voice, "Would someone please go and wake Tubby Ted? We are going to have a vote as to whether we should keep looking for a signal, or bring Raine back, instead." Prentiss looked at Curtis who nodded and sprinted off towards the tree house.

"Take your vote if you want, Prentiss," Peter said trying to hide his anger, "They're going to vote for the tellervision. That's better than any mother, anyway."

"But a tellervision can't sing." Prentiss said with a small smirk, "Or draw. Or play. It can only tell stories. I'd rather have a mother who could do all that than only tell stories."

"We don't need a mother to do those things."

"But we do need a storyteller. And I'd rather have one that can do more than just tell stories." It was then that Curtis ran up to them, dragging Tubby Ted, still half asleep, along behind him. "Alright, now that we're all here we're going to put this to a vote.

"Put wha' to a vote?" Tubby Ted asked sleepily.

"Whether or not we should keep trying to build a tellervision, or get Raine back."

"Oh, okay." Tubby Ted said, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Alright," Prentiss said, "All who want Raine back, raise your hand." And he put his hand up. Curtis' hand shot right up in the air, and hesitantly, Gabe and Felix put theirs up, too. Giving Peter apologetic looks as they did so. Peter just narrowed his eyes, and looked away. Tubby Ted, who didn't want to be against the clear majority, put his hand up as well. James just hung at the back, with his hands in his pockets.

"James, do you not want Raine back?" Prentiss asked. James just shrugged his shoulders. "You just don't care either way, do you?" James shrugged his shoulders again. "Alright then. All opposed?"

"Why even bother?" Peter said, gliding up to his room in the tree house, "You've all made your choice. So go on and get her!" he threw back the curtain over his doorway and swept inside. Tinkerbelle followed close behind. The Lost Boys all stared up at where they disappeared for a few moments before they all turned to Prentiss.

Prentiss looked up at the sky, where the last rays of sunshine were disappearing over the horizon. "Alright," he said, "first thing tomorrow, we're all going looking for Raine."

"But where do we start?" Gabe asked.

"We'll spread out around the island. Some of us can ask the Neverlanders if they're seen a girl, we can also ask the mermaids. Who knows, maybe even Hands saw her." The sun then fully disappeared below the horizon and night started to sweep through the island.

"Come on, let's head up to the tree house, we'll figure out what to do from there." Prentiss scooped up Curtis and they all climbed up the tree to begin their planning.


End file.
